To regret that I did not go to university?

[ethelfleda]

I have a pretty good job with a decent salary, I am a very content woman at this stage. Love my house and my husband and my little boy etc etc

But I can't help but feeling a little annoyed at myself for not being educated beyond GCSE level. I almost feel a little inferior to others that have - my DH and all of his family are super clever and have all been to/are going to University and I'm a little jealous. I never seemed to have a thirst for knowledge until my late 20s and now if money were no object I would love to study.

Does anyone else feel like this? Anyone been to Uni and regretted It?

I went to uni and dropped out at the end of 2nd year. It was a waste of 2 years having been basically given no other career options at school because I was clever so "must" go to uni. I have now eventually decided on a career in my 30s and self-funded through evening classes to gain the qualifications which are not uni based but more useful in the actual workplace.

Why cant you do an OU? You can still access grants. Although why you would want to be saddled with that debt if you aren't going to use the qualification is beyond me.

I went to a very good uni, couldn't cope with the work at all, muddled through, came out with a 3rd class degree, its literally worse than nothing as I was over qualified for school leaver jobs and under qualified for graduate jobs. I would love another crack at a degree but its so expensive.

What would you have studied if you'd gone? You could still do an OU degree? But you can't make yourself "super clever" if you're not if you've got a good job then you should be pleased. The grass isn't always greener.

I know what you mean, but when I had more time, i realised that no information is secret. I used to go on coursera.net and click on courses and I liked learning for its own sake. I am less obsessed with the status that comes from being able to say I got a degree and I prefer the flexibility of accessing the things that interest me and bypassing the rest.

Saying that though when my DC are a bit older I plan to do a philosophy degree and that will in no way improve my work prospects

I used to joke that I wanted ''she got a degree in the end'' chiselled on to my grave stone so it does matter to me (a bit)

I'm in my late 20s now. I went to Uni, and I regret it to a point. What I regret most about it is what I did with the opportunity when I went, I did GCSEs then A Levels then went to Uni - and I did not want to study (I played computer games instead). I ended up scraping by to finish, after rarely attending. I think if I went now I would end up with a much better degree as I actually have come back round to enjoying studying - that and I have a much better idea of what I actually want to do with life.

Unless you want the degree in something that needs a degree then I wouldn't regret it. I did Computer Science and I have used about 2 lectures of knowledge from it in my career.

I felt similar - I got straight A’s at GCSE and A level but then due to family circumstances I couldn’t go to university. I trained to be an accountant (on the job training plus nightschool etc) but always felt inferior to my colleagues, who seemed to be obsessed with which uni everyone went to.

Anyway I decided to do a masters degree (MBA) when I was late twenties which was very hard work and took 3 years but I passed with distinction and felt like I’d proved myself.
Now I’m early 40s and don’t give it a thought, seems really irrelevant now as I’ve got a successful career and just doesn’t ever come up anymore.

Strangely enough I have been feeling the complete opposite. DH and I are nearly 40 and went to Uni more than 20 years ago, I have a Masters DH has a good degree and a post grad, we both used to have good jobs earning well, neither do a job related to our degree anymore for a variety of reasons. I am now in a position where I am stuck, I have little useful experience for anything. I could do lots of office jobs because I have been responsible for admin in previous jobs but there are a hundred people out there applying for the exact job adveritsed and I get dropped to the bottom of the pile.
Due to the industry I am unlikely to get a job in similar positons to my old one and am qualified for little else. I am beginnign to wish I had just left school at 16 and started working in Tesco or something I might be a manager just now and have gained some useful work skills over the years.

I guess it is just a case of the grass not always being greener whatever side you are on.

I went to uni at 31 with 2 kids. I became a teacher at 35 and the rest is history!
Never have regrets. Do it parti time or via OU.
Good luck 😉

I'm not sure what I would have studied. I'm interested in so many subjects. I was the kind of person at school that messed around and paid no attention and still managed Bs and Cs. I'd love to know what I could have achieved if I'd words harder!

If you'd like more knowledge in particular areas, or have a subject you've always enjoyed, many universities offer accredited summer and evening courses - that would give you the opportunity to learn for the joy of it, but without the expense and commitment of a degree.

I went to university and whilst I don't regret it - it taught me transferable skills, I had a reasonably good time, it gave me three years of leeway to grow up a bit and out of being an irresponsible kid who probably would have struggled in the workplace - I don't think it's a marker of being "super clever" and I'd certainly not think less of anyone without a degree - just assume they made choices based in their own circumstances at the time.

Uni, best time of my life.

Some uni's like the OU and Harvard do free online courses (not degrees) which might be worth accessing if you feel you want to study and learn. Good way to check out whether the subject you're interested in is a good fit.
I don't think having a degree indicates someone being 'super clever' though. I know many people who don't have degrees who are frighteningly intelligent.

I went to uni, and while I wouldn't say I regret it exactly, I feel I've developed far more as a person through work than I did through university. You definitely don't need to go to university or spend a fortune to study though. Take advantage of libraries, the internet etc. Study something you're interested in with your free time

Most of my friends don't have degrees, and I certainly don't feel like they are in any way inferior.

Well that ''which university did you go to?'' nonsense is not why I want a degree!

It's even worse in America. I believe.

I know many people who don't have degrees who are frighteningly intelligent.

Exactly, and there are many people with degrees who are not particularly intelligent.

@Thor yes, I was going to add that I know many with degrees who are frighteningly dim but wasn't sure if it was too caustic!

My most successful friends didn’t go to uni, and almost every manager I’ve had didn’t either. I feel like it just delayed my working life by 3 years and gave me an unrealistic idea of what jobs/salaries would be available to me when I finished. Uni was definitely not the best time of my life, the best times have all been since I finished studying. If I had to pick now I would start working at 18 and become skilled in something rather than “book clever” as it didn’t work for me at all!

If you want to go to uni go! Do an access course at college which will be free and then go onto uni. If you feel you regretted not doing it then I think it's worth a shot trying now, you're never too old. I did it in my 20s and my mother did it in her 40s!

There is a big difference between graduates and apprentices who learnt on the job at my workplace. Being graduates are far better at the job and more intelligent, progress far quickly too

I completely understand this. I was bright but a total slacker at school, drifted my way through GCSEs and got 9 at A* to B without bothering to turn up to half the classes. Left after GCSEs, did an NVQ in something I ended up hating, quit that, drifted between bar jobs, went back to college, did an HNC, eventually did secretarial and PA jobs until eventually I found a way to do a professional qualification paid for through work. I now have qualifications equivalent to degree level, fellowship of a professional organisation and a string of letters after my name (and am part way through another professional qualification that's directly relevant to my job) and also two modern language A levels that I kind of did as a hobby, but I don't have a degree and it still really bothers me. Which is ridiculous as it wouldn't benefit my job in any way; in my industry the degree is only the way in and the professional qualifications come afterwards and they are what matter.

If I could turn back the clock I think I would have worked my arse off at GCSE and A Level, done a maths degree and become an actuary. As much as I would love to do an OU degree now I really can't justify the cost.

My ex got a DEN in his A Levels the first time around and I think a CDE second time around. He did a degree in American Studies and a masters in Media Studies and god love him, he was not that academically bright at all and while he had a great time at university, I don't think the degree itself benefited him in any way.

It's different for different people. I went to uni cos it was expected of me. I had no idea what I wanted to do career wise and just did the subject I was interested in. After finishing uni, I just went into a job I didn't need a degree for and worked my way up. It's nice to say I did it and it did help me living on my own, working on my own and being educated to a certain standard. It is something that potentially could set me apart from other people who don't have degrees but I don't feel like it's ever benefited me directly in the work place. I'm from the generation before tuition fees so I'm not in a bad place financially because of it.

My siblings on the other hand had a clear idea of what they wanted to do, did degrees in vocational subjects, went onto jobs directly using those subjects (Health care) and have then worked their way up and done further qualifications.

My DH left school with hardly any qualifications and has worked his way through NVQs and qualifications in the workplace and now earns significantly more than myself as a HGV driver.

The advice I'd give my own kids now there are astronomical tuition fees is to consider if fully. If they are certain about what career they want and need a degree to do it, then go ahead and do it. But if they're not sure, there are different types of qualifications and different ways of learning a skill or trade.

People can be very successful without going to University and some clever people didn't go to University.

I've conversed with some who went to Uni and whilst they may be intelligent in their field, common sense is lacking.

I studied to postgraduate level and have no regrets, but I'm currently studying in a totally different area for my 2nd career so to speak.

I didn't go. It is annoying when people think you are less intelligent than them even though you did loads better at school than they did, you just chose not to go to university. I did 5 A'Levels including two foreign languages and a science. In my day, you didn't automatically go. I also didn't know what I wanted to do for a career.

Now that the world and his dog go, it almost makes me think about doing an OU myself in a "can't beat 'em, join 'em" kind of way.

I started a nursing degree years ago, but was doing HCA work at the same time and I realised my back probably wasn't up to the job.

I also did a Level 1 certificate with the OU a few years ago to help my CV and I got a distinction for that, so perhaps I should go for it after all.

IMO, you won't be more/less intelligent if you go/don't go, it's just that you will have a bit of paper to "prove" it. If you were in a room with others and no-one could talk about their qualifications, you might be surprised at who did/didn't go to university!

FWIW, I started to really feel the frustration of not having studied at tertiary level somewhere around my late 20s, and started an OU degree when I was mid-thirties. I can say with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever that it was the best decision I ever made, but it has been of NO use whatsoever in the workplace - it has simply been incredibly fulfilling, in a way that trying to self-educate would not have been. It just gave me the pointers to a different way of analysing, seeing, discussing. It also gave me much more self-esteem to have a degree (and happily I also got a First, which did my self-esteem no harm whatsoever, but I must emphasise that I did it part-time and had plenty of time to study, so I had all the advantages going for me).

There's no right or wrong here. Yes, it was silly to lack self-esteem because I didn't have a degree, because I still had the intelligence, just not the bit of paper - but we're not robots, and I did (lack it). EleanorHooverbelt is absolutely right when she says you won't be more or less intelligent - but my experience is that I did learn to put my intelligence to far greater use with some tertiary education. It made all the difference in the world to me.

The tragedy is that I did it because it was affordable at £700 a module. Now, it's a major investment, so no-one can afford to do it for love/personal reasons.